news WORTHINGTON -- Eight months after a warrant was issued, a Slayton man was taken into custody in Arkansas, brought back by local authorities and is behind bars for allegedly having criminal sexual conduct with a 5-year-old child.
William Louis Sorby, 41, was picked up in Arkansas by the Murray County...
Worthington, 56187

Worthington Minnesota 300 11th Street / P.O. Box 639 56187

2013-07-11 16:15:14

WORTHINGTON -- Eight months after a warrant was issued, a Slayton man was taken into custody in Arkansas, brought back by local authorities and is behind bars for allegedly having criminal sexual conduct with a 5-year-old child.

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William Louis Sorby, 41, was picked up in Arkansas by the Murray County Sheriff's Office and processed into the Nobles County Jail late last week. He made an initial court appearance Monday after being assigned a public defender last week.

Bail was set for $25,000. If Sorby can make the bail amount, he is not allowed to leave the state without permission or have any contact with the victim if released.

Sorby was charged in February with both second- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and with first-degree witness tampering. The complaint states authorities responded in January to a complaint of sexual assault. The child's mother indicated Sorby had been babysitting her child several days earlier, and arrived home to find him sitting on the couch with the child.

The mother said the child complained of pain, and Sorby immediately left. The child later made the same complaint, and reported that Sorby had told her he would hurt her if she told her mother.

After an interview at Child's Voice, an outpatient medical evaluation center for children who may be victims of physical and/or sexual abuse and neglect, the interviewer indicated that the child had been very specific during her forensic review. In the interviewer's opinion, the child was accurate and honest and had given a truthful report.

She reportedly stated she was at home sleeping when Sorby, whom she referred to by the first name Bill, had touched her.

As of Monday afternoon, Sorby was still in the custody of the Nobles County Jail and had not made bail.

The charges accuse him of engaging in sexual contact with a child, and of intentionally attempting to prevent or dissuade someone by means of threat from providing law enforcement with information regarding a crime.

In Minnesota, Sorby has a previous conviction for driving while impaired and was on probation at the time of the alleged crime. If convicted on all three counts, he faces a maximum combined sentence of 31 years incarceration and/or $48,000 in fines.